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Rental car firms jump on carbon bandwagon

Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car – all owned by the Taylor family of St. Louis – are launching a new “carbon offset program” in January

Nov 06, 2007

Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car – all owned by the Taylor family of St. Louis – are launching a new “carbon offset program” in January that will give customers the option to fund certified projects to remove enough carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere to make up for the emissions from their vehicles.

By opting in during the reservation process to pay $1.25 per rental, customers will fund certified offset projects that work to remove CO2 from the air as part of an effort to fight global warming. In addition, customer offset purchases will be matched by the rental company dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million.

Beginning in January, the program will be offered at participating locations in the U.S. and Canada, which serve some 20 million to 25 million customers annually, then will be extended to Enterprise’s European customers in mid-2008. The firm TerraPass will administer the program funded by customers’ offset purchases.

“Our customers tell us that making sustainable choices when they rent a car is important to them,” said Andy Taylor, chairman & CEO of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which purchased National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car earlier this year.

“This carbon offset program empowers them to make that choice and address the impact of automobile emissions on climate change,” he added. “Our focus remains on helping to find long-term solutions to address the impact automobiles have on climate change by investing in renewable fuels research, advanced clean-technology cars and related initiatives that support our environmental sustainability platform."